Tag: Arizona

Cover of book 24 Hours in Nowhere - a reddish orange desert scene, bright blue sky, hot yellow sun, a trailer house, and four kids silhouetted as the climb.
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

24 Hours in Nowhere

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

24 Hours in Nowhere (Stirling Children’s Books, 2018) by Dusti Bowling is a fantastic tale of events that happen in 24 hours. (Honestly, I didn’t plan to recommend two books with the same time frame two weeks apart–I just happened to read them both now.)

13-year-old Gus can’t wait to get out of the town of Nowhere, Arizona. Their town is number one in things like poverty, high school drop outs, and drunken mine deaths. His hope is the SAT, which will get him to college. But meanwhile, Rossi gave up her motorbike to the local bully to save Gus from eating a cholla (nasty cactus), and Gus has to buy it back. His only hope is gold from the dangerous Dead Frenchman Mine.

I loved seeing how Gus grew and how his relationships changed on this adventure that involves a cave-in, a mountain lion, a black underground lake, and of course, a failing light source. Definitely a compelling read.

Check out all the awards for this book:
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
One of Shelf Awareness’s Best Books of 2018
A Golden Kite Honor Winner
A Silver Nautilus Award Winner
A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year

Last year I recommended Dusti’s book Holding on for Dear Life. Dusti’s newest book is a YA coming out this October–The Drowning Game. She has many other books I haven’t read…yet. Go to her website for more info.

Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

lifeofacactus.pngInsignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (Sterling Children’s Books, 2017) by Dusti Bowling was so good.

Thirteen-year-old Aven was born without arms, but loves making up stories about what happened to her arms. It’s a fun joke with her friends, but when she and her family have to move because her dad lost his job and Aven has to go to a new school, she doesn’t feel like joking. Or eating lunch in front of anyone. And the “looks” and stares are hard.

Her new home is a rundown Western theme park in Arizona which has some mysteries. Eventually she meets Connor who has his own struggles and they start investigating those mysteries plus create some excitement of their own. The two also ending up helping each other.

Aven is funny, interesting, and a good friend. I like her parents and how they’ve encouraged her.
This really is a sweet book, but not too sweet. 😉 Go here and read about all the awards and lists this book has been chosen for.

Dusti’s second book, 24 Hours in Nowhere, comes out in September. Read about it here.